Black World Week of August 20, 2014

The family of Anna Short Harrington, the woman who was the inspiration for much of the Aunt Jemima imagery, has filed a lawsuit against Pepsi Co. and its subsidiary The Quaker Oats Co., along with Pinnacle Foods Group and the Hillshire Brands Co. D.W. Hunter. Harrington’s great grandson filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of all of Harrington’s great grandchildren. He is seeking $2 billion along with punitive damages. Harrington was selected as “Aunt Jemima” in 1937, supposedly because of her pancake recipe, which Quaker Oats later produced for the mass market. The family claims that Quaker Oats worked to deny Harrington her “equitable fair share of royalties,” and further claims that racism played a role in the exploitation of Harrington.

ILLINOIS - The US Department of Education is investigating alleged Title VI civil rights violations at two public schools on the South Side of Chicago. The complaint was filed by the Kenword Oakland Community Organization of Chicago on behalf of African American students enrolled at Dyett High School and Mollison Elementary School. Those that gathered at the Rainbow PUSH headquarters are separate and unequal, 60 years after the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision that ruled all children are entitled to equity and quality in education. Recent CPS closings relocated about 300 students from Overton Elementary School to Mollison. The civil rights and education activists say the complaint is intended to detail how CPS set up these schools to fail.

OHIO- Kayelesa Martin reportedly committed suicide by walking in front of a semi trailer truck on the very same day she found out her 14-month-old son, Omoyele Gonzalez, mysteriously passed away at their home. According to Canton police, the little boy was discovered dead in a bed at the home. The autopsy was inconclusive. Omoyele did not have any sign of injuries, nor did the boy die of any trauma according to the report. Police were called when Martin threatened suicide while a relative went to the fire station to report the toddler’s death. When police arrived they could not find Martin and investigators tried searching for the 20-year-old mom. Soon after, they were alerted to the fact that she died instantly in a nearby traffic accident by reportedly walking in front of a moving semi truck.

Africa
Africans with the Ebola virus will have to wait months before a potentially life-saving experimental treatment used on two infected Americans is produced even in small amounts. And there are no guarantees that the medication known as ZMapp would curb the spread of the disease, which starts with a fever and body aches and sometimes progresses to serious bleeding. Supplies of the drug are limited. It has never been tested for safety or effectiveness in humans.

NIGERIA – Residents of a village on the shore of Lake Chad say that at least 50 residents are missing after a raid by suspected Boko Haram militants. A witness says at least 26 people were killed during the raid on the village of Doran Baga last Sunday.
The remote region has poor communication links, meaning news of the raid took days to emerge. Nigeria has been plagued with attacks by the militant group Boko Haram in recent years, particularly in the north east. In April, Boko Haram caused global outrage by abducting more than 200 school girls from their boarding school.

Europe
ENGLAND – Police are looking for a man and a woman after a train passenger was the victim of a violent and unprovoked attack. The victim was held down by the woman as the man she was with assaulted another male passenger. The incident happened as soon as the pair boarded the train in North London. A detective on the case confirms that the attack was violent, unprovoked and sustained. When the victim tried to defend himself the woman held him down to make it easier for the man to assault him. The attackers left the train right after the incident.